Foster's Niece
by berryfuls
Summary: Foster's niece Amy pays the Lightman Group an unexpected visit. The girl is amazing, and she may uncover secrets her Uncle Alec wouldn't want to know... Lightman/Foster forever!
1. Amy

**I don't own anything about the show, but I do own Amy. So don't steal her from me, and I will know if you do! I practically sit on the Lie to Me category.**

* * *

Cal Lightman sat in his office, bored. Gillian Foster said that she had a surprise for him, but that had been two hours ago. Since she was feeling better, Gillian was being… strange. Awkward, Cal corrected himself.

He had just being a good friend. Who wouldn't try to comfort a colleague when there was a chance she could have been tortured, blinded, raped, and then possibly killed? But, just the thought of that made his hands clench into fists on his desk.

An assistant stopped in the doorway, leaning in. "Mr. Lightman, there's a visitor in the foyer for you."

Cal got up and followed her down the hallway. Standing there was Gillian, who he saw first. Next to her, there was a teenage girl, with dusty brown hair that fell straight to her shoulders. She was tall, almost as tall as Gillian.

"Hey," he said quickly, leaning against the wall. A secretive smile flashed across the girl's face, as if she knew a secret no one else did.

"Cal, this is Amy. Amy, this is-," Gillian said softly.

Amy cut her off. "Dr. Lightman. I'd recognize you anywhere." She grinned.

Cal and Gillian exchanged a glance. "Where?" he asked cautiously. He had never realized how pressing the press could really be.

She rolled her eyes, the smiled faltering. "One, I've seen you on TV. Two, Aunt Gillian and Uncle Alec talk about you all the time."

Gillian bit her lip. "Amy is my niece," she explained, unnecessarily.

"Yeah, I got that," Cal replied, still studying this teenager. She was a little younger than Emily. She still had a ghost of childlike charm, which she seemed to be flaunting.

He looked at Foster again. Her short hair was down and straight, a style he was beginning to be comfortable with. There were still a few scratches on the skin not covered by her dress and jacket.

Her brown-green eyes flickered to his, and for one fleeting moment, everything else vanished.

So when Amy coughed, he jerked a little in surprise. Amy looked up, embarrassed. "Sorry, I think I'm getting a cold," she said simply.

She noticed tan woman with black hair watching. Cal also saw her. "It's Torres," he explained. "The only _natural_of the Lightman Group." He said the word with a half-sneer.

"Natural, huh?" Amy muttered.

"Yeah. Lightman was against hiring her at first," Gillian spoke up.

"She still hasn't had much training," Cal replied gruffly.

"So? She's almost as good as you."

"No, she isn't. No one can live up to my standards."

Amy looked back at the two, but they seemed to have forgotten she was here. Good. She inched over to the woman.

"Hi," she said in a low voice.

Torres, who had been watching Cal and Gillian with a tiny smile on her face, was a bit startled by the girl's presence. "Oh, um, hello. I'm Ria Torres."

Amy smiled a little. Everyone was so easy to twist to her satisfaction. "Amy Foster."

Ria looked surprised. "I thought Foster didn't have a daughter."

Amy shook her head. "She doesn't. I'm her niece," she explained smoothly. "But that's not what I wanted to talk to you about. You seriously see almost everything Lightman sees, but had no training?"

Torres nodded warily.

"That's good. I'm guessing you've seen me from when Lightman came out." Again, Torres nodded as a response. "And you didn't see either lie I told?"

"Lie?! What lie? You told the truth the whole time!" Torres contradicted. The kid hadn't shone any signs of lying. It was impossible.

Amy rolled her eyes. "That's the point. I told two lies – think you can figure them both out?"

Torres was quiet for a minute. "When you said you were getting a cold?"

"Yep. I was just getting annoyed by those two staring at each other."

"You have no idea what it can be like."

Amy laughed softly. She glanced over her shoulder at them. They were still talking about something. But Gillian was just smiling at whatever Cal was saying. A sly grin crept onto Amy's face.

"Tell me something," she said unexpectedly. She looked away from her aunt's shining eyes to Ria's pretty face.

"What is it?" Ria replied, wary again. Everyone seriously needed to loosen up.

Amy contemplated her question for a few seconds. "Are they normally like this? Like all obvious they love each other?"

"About seven-five percent of the time. Trust me; it gets to be extremely annoying. Can you imagine trying to work with the two 'lovebirds' of the office? It's sickening!" But as she spoke, Amy saw that there was more. Something else…

"Anything else?" she prompted.

Ria looked away from the younger woman back up to Cal and Gillian. They appeared to be _very_ busy, probably playfully teasing each other about something. Then no one but Amy would ever know her one secret.

"Look," Ria whispered, leaning down. "I'm not supposed to be telling anyone this, since I'm not supposed to know, but your aunt and uncle are… separated." When Amy didn't look startled, just expecting, she went on. "But Cal is still close to his ex-wife, Zoe. Gillian doesn't want her to come back. And Cal's daughter, Emily – who should be around here somewhere – seems to already look up to Gillian as a guardian."

Amy grinned. "Thanks so much," she said to Ria. Then she went back to her aunt and the kind of creepy guy. "Hey, Dr. Lightman," she interrupted, sounding timid. "Do you know where your daughter is? Ms. Torres suggested that I go talk with her." A tiny, hopeful smile was on her lips.

Cal nodded, tearing his gaze unwillingly from his colleague to the girl. "Oh, I think she's in my office." Then he explained the way to get there. When he was done, Amy nodded, smiling wider now, and she started down the hall.

Once she had turned the corner, though, she stopped in her tracks. There was Ria, arms folded, leaning against the wall in a very "Lightman-y" way.

"Oh, hi! I was just going to find Emily. Dr. Lightman said she would be-"

Ria didn't give her change to finish. "What was the other lie you told?"

"What are you talking about?" Amy asked in reply, faking innocence.

"Oh you know exactly what the- what I'm talking about. Earlier, you said you told two lies. One was about you getting a cold. What was the other?"

Amy pretended to think for a minute. "Oh, yeah. I remember now." She stretched up on her toes to whisper in Ria's ear, "The other lie? That was when I said Uncle Alec and Aunt Gillian talk about him all the time." She leaned back. "They never talk about him, except when my mom asks Aunt Gillian about work. But once I found a notebook of hers, and inside there was a million things about him." She glanced down the hall.

When she was certain her Aunt wasn't coming anytime soon, she said in a low voice, "And the last thing she had written was that she loved him. That she loved him with every molecule of her body and would die for him. That Uncle Alec is as blind as a bat if he never saw it."

Ria was shocked into silence. When she finally did speak, it was a soft "No way…"

Amy smiled and turned on her heel. Naturals were so fun to play with. There wasn't really a notebook, although it seemed like something Aunt Gillian would have.

Finally, she arrived at Dr. Lightman's office, and just as he had predicted, there was a girl a little older than herself lounged on a loveseat reading a thick novel. Shyly, Amy tapped on the door.

Emily looked up and motioned for her to come in.

"Everyone here is nuts," Amy complained as she shut the door behind her.

"Tell me about it."


	2. Lucky

A/N: Since some people added this to their Story Alert and I hate to let people down, I've decided to make this longer. Amy will be a permanent character. There will be more Lightman/Foster goodness, while Amy and Emily get to be really good friends. Hey, maybe I'll even do Loker/Torres. Probably not, though.

And just so you know, this takes between Undercover and Blinded. I may and probably will skip ahead to after the finale, though.

Okay, enough of me. Time for more yummy goodness. –waggles eyebrows-

I don't own anything about the show, but I do own Amy. So don't steal her from me and I will know if you do! I practically sit on the Lie to Me category.

**Not So Lucky**

Amy sat in the passenger seat, staring out the window. The day at the Lightman Group had been very interesting. Not only did she witness her aunt flirting with her boss, she got to mess with a natural and talked to Emily. Turns out the two are almost exactly the same.

"So, what did you think?" Gillian asked eventually. Apparently, the silence had gotten the best of her.

Amy shrugged and turned to her aunt. "It was… kind of weird. Everything was too white." She wrinkled her nose.

A tiny smile tugged at Gillian's lips. "Yeah, Cal doesn't exactly have time to paint, working as much as he does."

Amy noticed she didn't seem to be talking her. More like in some memory. Interesting… "He really seems like the busy type. His daughter's nice, too."

Sadness. Now why would Gillian be sad to talk about Dr. Lightman's daughter? "Isn't she? I thought you would get along well with her." Okay, now she was talking in a weird voice. A voice Amy didn't want to describe, although she was _very_ interested in the obvious relationship.

They went back to silence, each lost in their own thoughts. Amy considered how Uncle Alec would take it if he wasn't so indifferent. He had to have known already. Seriously, only a complete idiot couldn't see the white-hot attraction between Dr. Lightman and Gillian.

Then again, Alec wasn't smart enough to stop using cocaine and stop seeing that weirdo blonde. Amy had met her once, and she knew that there was more to the late night meetings.

Then she wondered if she should talk to Dr. Lightman about it. He seemed like one of those guys who loved someone but couldn't stand to see her heart be broken by another. Couldn't stand it, although he knew she would come straight to him.

Amy herself didn't understand that. She was too young, never known what it's like to feel that way.

Maybe it was safer to just consult Emily again. During their talk today, she found out that Dr. Lightman was seeing his ex-wife again. Emily didn't like it, saying that Gillian made him happier. That today wasn't the first time that a conversation like the one she had witnessed in the hall had come up.

Amy barely hid a smile. Maybe in time she would have a new cousin. That is assuming Gillian left Alec, a very wise choice, and then married Dr. Lightman. She tried that out – Uncle Cal… Ew, no!

Maybe Gillian would just stay single, since her first marriage was obviously an explosion bigger than the nuclear bombs we dropped on Japan. But it would be so nice if she did-

The radio turned up from her Gillian's fingers, chasing away Amy's thoughts. Instantly, the girl recognized the song playing. It was Lucky by Jason Mraz and Colbie Caillat. "Ooh, I love this song!" she exclaimed. She knew that Gillian had been rushing to change the station. Hesitantly, Gillian pulled her hand back to the steering wheel.

And while Amy sang along quietly, she realized why.

_They don't know how long it takes, waiting for a love like this. Every time we say goodbye, I wish we had one more kiss. I'll wait for you, I promise you, I will._

_I'm lucky I'm in love with my best friend. Lucky to have been where I have been. Lucky to be coming home again. I'm lucky we're in love in every way. Lucky to have stayed where we have stayed. Lucky to be coming home someday._

Yeah, that explains a lot. Only, for Gillian, it wasn't so lucky. More like very, very unfortunate. At least the rest is just about true.

"What about this song do you like, exactly?" Gillian asked.

Amy shrugged. "I guess it's just how sweet it seems. It's on my iPod, so I listen to it when I'm in a bad mood." She grinned and started singing again.

"Would figure," Gillian muttered, and tried to tune out the music. When she failed, she started singing along. By the end, they were just about doing karaoke.

The song faded, and another started. It was Crush by David Archuleta. Looking frustrated, Gillian turned the station. Amy couldn't hold back her laughter. As quietly as she could, she chuckled, looking out the window.

She could torture her aunt by singing Crush too. No, that might be just a bit overdone. Besides, that could totally blow the secret.

Apparently, nothing was on, so eventually Gillian left it on Rock 'N' Roll by Eric Hutchinson. Well, it was a good song, and that wasn't what had happened with her and Cal. Or so Amy _desperately_ hoped.

That would be extremely weird to work together then. That's why Lucky and Crush seemed more fitting with those two. Those were innocent songs. Another one, probably not played on the radio, was You Belong with Me by Taylor Swift. That was about being in love with a best friend. The best friend was with someone else, but also loved the friend. In the end, the two friends end up together.

_What,_ Amy thought defensively as if someone was listening. _I listen to a lot of songs. And usually, the only way to listen to them without buying them is to watch the music video._

The unknown person in her head wasn't satisfied.

Amy physically shook her head. "I'm going insane," she whispered to herself and sat back in the chair.

Gillian laughed, pulling into the driveway. "Insane, huh?"

"Yes! I'm defending myself in my head against nothing!" she replied in a slightly shrill voice. While gathering her bag and jacket, she noticed the floor. "Wow, you keep a lot of things." She turned to Gillian and noticed her expression. "What?"

The woman's eyes closed. "Nothing. Just what you said reminded me of someone. Someone I try not to think about much while at home." She opened her eyes again and forced a smile. "Come on, you should get settled."

"You sure you don't want to talk about it?" Amy asked, as they got out of the car.

Gillian glanced to the dark house -Alec wasn't home yet- then leaned down to whisper in Amy's ear, "That someone once said I was a pack rat."

"Why do you try not to think about him at home?"

Gillian's voice got lower and desperate in Amy's ear. "Because that someone isn't your Uncle Alec, but I still love him."


	3. Policy

_I had a really hard time deciding how I wanted to do this chapter. Really, all I wanted was to keep reading more Fringe, with Peter/Olivia. Or work on my Nightmares idea for Fringe. But I watched two episodes of Lie to Me today. And this happened. Enjoy._

_And to explain any suckish parts, blame writer's block. Or my very thin sliver of imagination. Meh._

_I don't own anything about the show, but I do own Amy. So don't steal her from me and I will know if you do! I practically sit on the Lie to Me category._

**

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**

Policy

Later that night, Amy lay on the bed in the guest bedroom, staring up at the dark ceiling. Gillian's words kept running through her head, no matter how much she just wanted to go to sleep. It may also have something to do with the fact that Gillian kept pacing up and down the hall.

Amy rolled her eyes. She had promised to keep her aunt's secret. And when Amy Foster made a promise, it was never broken. _Never_.

Gillian's restlessness probably wouldn't escape Dr. Lightman's notice tomorrow. _Strike that, _Amy corrected as she caught sight of the clock. _Today. _She wished she could fall asleep, and that Gillian would settle down.

Amy didn't want to think about the events she had witnessed or the burden she now had to carry. Although "someone" isn't very specific, she knew exactly who it was. You'd have to be a jellyfish to not be able to figure that out.

Ha, jellyfish. Jellyfish, animals that have no brain, eyes, or heart, and are eighty percent water. Wow, she knew way too much about jellyfish. Things most people could care less about, too.

But it kept her mind from wandering to _that_ subject. So she started to remember trivial facts about animals. _The male seahorses carry and give birth to the babies… The biggest life species, the blue whale, eats the smallest life, plankton… Only one type of bird hibernates, the poorwill… _

Somewhere, she actually bored herself to sleep.

…

In the hall, Gillian heard Amy's breathing deepen and slow. As not to disturb her sleeping niece, she crept to her own room.

Then she had one of those random thoughts. You know, the ones that seem to come out complete nowhere, but are always true. No matter how much you want to deny it.

She was alone.

Now, normally, she wouldn't have paid that much mind. Alec often met his sponsor late at night. That would concern some, but he worked late.

But, for some reason, tonight, she was bothered by that fact. It may have something to do with Amy now knowing what most didn't know. But who else was she to tell?

No one at the office, because there was the chance someone might blab to Cal. Not Alec, for very obvious reasons. Not Emily, because Cal would read it off of her, even if she didn't tell. Gillian didn't have a child of her own, which would still be completely out of the question. Her sister had problems to deal with herself.

And who would expect a fourteen year old? Especially one who was unbearably innocent? Then again, no one who Amy's gift better than Gillian, who had really taught the girl everything. Well, everything she couldn't have figured out on her own.

All this thinking was starting to tire her, so she lay down. Suddenly, she was very cold, as if the room had become a freezer. She shivered as she pulled the covers over her slender frame.

And before she could continue her train of thought, fatigue finally claimed her, and she was asleep.

(The Next Day)

Amy awoke when the sun was just barely over the tops of the trees. She had always had a hard time sleeping in direct sunlight. Downstairs, she could smell pancakes and bacon. Yum.

She got dressed quickly, then skipped down the stairs. If there was ever a morning person, it was Amy.

Alec was just about to leave. It had to be terrible when you have to work during spring break at a boring place like his. Gillian at least had a super cool office, and friends in a lot of her coworkers.

"Good morning, Amy," Alec said as he gulped down the rest of his coffee and set the mug in the sink.

Grinning, she replied, "It _is_ a good morning. Want to know why?" She barely noticed Gillian's look of desperation. She needed to learn to trust more. "Because I get to see Emily again today!"

Alec just chuckled softly, and headed out the door. "Love you guys!" he called before the door shut.

Amy sat down next to her aunt and put some pancakes on her plate, along with two pieces of bacon. "Good breakfast," she commented cheerfully.

Gillian just glanced at her furtively and picked up the newspaper.

Amy rolled her eyes and started eating. She loved Aunt Gillian's pancakes, because somehow, no syrup was needed. There was already syrup in them! And always the perfect amount.

"You know, you could have not almost given me a heart attack," Gillian finally spoke up.

With the fork halfway to her mouth, Amy looked up. "You know my policy," she said simply, and kept eating.

Gillian still didn't look satisfied. "Well, yeah, but you have no reason to keep my secret. Not to mention all the reasons to tell Alec."

Amy shrugged and put the fork down. She was full. "Maybe I don't have any, but that doesn't make a difference. You trusted me then, so I'm not going to say anything now. Loyalty before impulse."

"That's a very interesting saying."

"Thanks."

They were quiet for a while Amy rinsed the plate and put it in the dishwasher. "So that's it then," Gillian said eventually.

Amy turned and nodded slowly, as if trying to explain something to a kindergartener. "What else can there be? You never even told who it was. Although I know," she muttered as she sat back down.

As she reached for the sale flyers, she heard Gillian sigh. When she glanced up, she noticed the look of half-regret. She grinned, and started flipping through her favorite part of the newspaper. There weren't boring facts in sale flyers.

"I should have never taught you those techniques," Gillian said, almost like she was saying _I should have picked a different colored pen. _

"Probably not. But life has been very exciting ever since you did! Seriously, I've figured out that at least two guys at my school like me. Even if they're both dorks." She shrugged and started looking through a Best Buy flyer. There was a new movie out, and she wanted to see how much it was.

Gillian's soft giggles were barely audible.

Amy smiled at the at least somewhat positive response. "And I found out my friend is actually very jealous of me – I have no idea of what though."

"Sounds like you need another session."

Amy looked up hopefully. "Please? There's still so much I don't know!"

With a sigh, Gillian surrendered. There was practically no way to resist her when she wanted something. Besides, she wanted to teach her niece more – Amy was a good student. She was more attentive than Loker, and could be taught things, unlike Torres and Lightman.

"Come on. I think I can squeeze in a quick lesson before we leave," she said, and got up.

Grinning, Amy also stood and followed her aunt into the living room. This was the reason she loved to mess with naturals.

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_Hope this cleared up some questions._


	4. Office

**A/N: I am SO sorry this took so long. I know, its summer, I should have updated WAY sooner. I've have a killer writer's block lately, and it's been driven me more insane than some of my other problems.**

**I already have most of the next chapter written. It's going to be the last one (because I have a hard time committing to anything lol) but I hope it satisfies you. But you're going to have to wait a few days while I finish and you get the full extent of the suspense. Haha.**

**SO SORRY!**

**-ibroughthomeababybumblebee**

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"You did a great job today," Gillian commented. Amy just nodded and continued to just stare out the window in silence. Since the little fiasco last night, Gillian had place a 'no radio' pact on them, even if they had never agreed to it.

Amy still found it funny that Gillian and Cal were so unsure of themselves. Amy herself would have gotten it over with already. She saw it in him, and he saw it in her. So why even pretend it's not true?

She pulled a bottle of lotion out of her backpack and squirted some on her hands.

"What kind is that?"

"Cherry Blossom. I got it at Bath and Body Works."

"It smells good."

"Yep."

For some reason, Amy was kind of annoyed with her aunt. She had not idea why, she just was. Maybe some collaborating with Emily would help get her out of her bad mood.

For now, though, she would try to listen to the imaginary music in her head. …No success.

She considered falling asleep for the rest of the drive, but that would mean she'd have to get up again. She may be a morning person, but you can't wake her up. Not easily, anyway.

By the time they got to the office, she still hadn't thought of something to do. Moving with extra force than necessary, she slung the one-shoulder bag over her arm and got out of the car.

Yesterday, in her rush to get in, she didn't see the spot where someone had written "Benny & Sally forever!" in the concrete sidewalk before it had dried. Wow. Did people not have lives? Apparently not, and that's just sad…

"Looks like Cal isn't here yet," Gillian muttered to herself, and started rifling around her purse for the keys to the building.

Amy just shrugged and crouched down by the little words forever etched in concrete. Were they even together still? Do they regret writing their name here, outside a freak show? There was no way to answer any of these questions, so she just followed Gillian in the building.

Okay, this place is kind of creepy during the day, but in the dark, it's even worse. You can only barely make out the pale walls, and the windows just caused light gray shadows. Plus, it was deathly quiet. Seriously, she could hear tiny, unexplainable movements off somewhere else.

Amy made a mental note to ask around to see if this place was haunted.

She wasn't too scared of the paranormal, but that was different now. She didn't know her way around here. Then it was also deserted, besides for her aunt, who was walking right beside her.

"Well, this is… strange," Amy finally commented, glancing down a hallway that led who-knew-where.

Gillian laughed. "I guess it is, but I guess I got used to it a while back. Besides, Cal is usually here…" She trailed off, because they had gotten to the reception desk, at last. Amy watched as Gillian fumbled around in the random objects back there, until she pulled out a remote.

"Care to do the honors?" she asked, as if it was a great thing to be able to turn on the lights. But Amy smiled and grasped it anyway.

"Five… four… three… two…." Instead of saying one, she pressed the button.

One by one, the lights reluctantly flickered on. It took a minute or two until they were all glowing softly. Amy grinned and handed the little remote back to Gillian, who safely stashed it put where it had been.

"So now what?" Amy asked, leaning back on the counter. It was a desk, but also attached to a wall, so it was more of a counter. Whatever…

"Now, we head about to my office and wait."

"How fun." The two walked to the large room that had been given to Gillian for an office. It was half the size of Lightman's own, but it was still a pretty good size.

Gillian went to her desk and sat down behind her computer. Amy sat down on the couch and turned on the TV. She flipped through the channels, trying to find something decent to watch at this time of day.

Failing to find anything, she just turned on the news, and settled down to count how many of the reporters lied.

By the time people started showing up, she had already counted up to fourteen. The world's being run by liars. She looked up when someone knocked on the glass door.

"Hello, luv, and hello Amy." Amy smiled in return and turned back to the show. Lightman sat down beside her. "I can't stand this channel. They lie about everything. See?" He picked up the remote and paused it. "There. Look at his hand!" Amy held back a giggle. She had already seen it.

Gillian stood up and walked around to the front of her desk. "So, any new, insane cases for today?" she asked. "There wasn't anything in my inbox, but still, have to be sure."

Dr. Lightman shook his head. "Nope. It's going to just be a free day." Amy sighed through her nose in disappointment. She had wanted to pick out the liars like on news. Maybe tomorrow. Hopefully.

Well, tomorrow came and went and Amy couldn't help in any of the cases that came up. Because Gillian was the only person who knew she could.

But that was the least of her troubles.

Almost every night, she heard Alec shouting at Gillian for who-knows-what –something about not being a good wife possibly- and then Gillian would say something Amy could never hear, and Alec would explode again. Then he would go out, slamming the door behind him, and not come back until well after midnight. Sometimes Gillian came in and sat with Amy, maybe crying, maybe not. She would explain what was going on, and then it start up again the next night. Until one night, when after the door banged close, she came up with tears streaming down both cheeks and a hand mark on her arm.

"This has gone way too far," Amy whispered, hugging Gillian who was crying freely onto her pajamas.

The next day at the Lightman Group, Amy snuck away to talk with Emily. They met in their usual place, halfway between Dr. Lightman's and Gillian's offices.

"What's wrong?" Emily whispered, her wide eyes flicking between offices.

"Uncle Alec hit Aunt Gillian last night."

"We have to tell my dad. He probably knows what to do."

They walked to his office silently. Lightman looked up curiously when they both came in. "Is something on fire?"

Emily looked at Amy. "You tell him."

She sighed and stepped closer to Emily's father. "It's Aunt Gillian. For the past few weeks, they've been fighting," –Dr. Lightman stiffened- "and last night he hit her. Really hard." Lightman was already up and out the door before she finished. Emily shrugged and they followed him.

Just as they stepped in, Gillian's phone buzzed. "Dr. Foster, you have a visitor," Heidi said.

"We'll go," Amy said immediately. Gillian and Dr. Lightman smiled. She and Emily started walking really fast down the hall.

* * *

**Pwease don't hurt me for slacking!**


	5. Confessions

**A/N: Sorry bout the wait for this one (it seems like thats all I ever say anymore lol) but I absolutely, positively, with all of my heart LOVE the way this ends. I think there's some confusing parts (since I kept moving everyone around the room. I hate it when people stand still and just talk. So boring!!) Oh, and be on the lookout for an epilogue to this, and possibly a sequel. I don't think I'm done with Amy, not yet anyway ;) Love you guys for reading... now enjoy!!!**

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There he was, standing by the reception desk. Waiting for Amy and Emily, who had just shown up. Perfect.

"Amy! You and your friend get over here," Alec called in a harsh voice.

Emily's hands bunched into fists. "We aren't ten," she muttered, before spinning around. Amy inconspicuously touched her arm to remind her that he doesn't know about their abilities. Or the fact that he was falling right in the trap.

"Take me to them. Now." Heidi shot him a glare he chose to ignore, still staring down his niece and his enemy's daughter.

They sighed and started off toward Gillian's office, exchanging a glance out of their eyes. A tiny smirk curled on both their lips.

Right before they turned the corner down the final hall, a thought struck Amy. She grabbed Emily's wrist, squeezed it –to say to follow along- and faced Alec. "We're going to go ahead and tell her that you're here. So you don't surprise her. And that no one else is there." He nodded once.

They ran for the office. Emily whispered, "What are you doing?"

"Improvising!" Amy breathed back.

They reached the glass door and yanked it open. "Alec's here!" they both hissed at the same moment. Only to stop short as they saw what was happening.

Dr. Lightman had Gillian wrapped in a comforting hug. She had her head on his shoulder, looking like she was close to crying. They jerked back from each other at Emily's and Amy's voices.

"So it's working?" Gillian asked. Dr. Lightman chuckled as the two girls smiled in response.

They all group hugged until Emily looked up and gasped.

Alec stood in the doorway, looking like he was about to jump someone. "Touching, really," he commented, his voice thick with bitter anger and hatred. The other three people in the room turned to him.

His head was bent down and darkened in shadow. His arms were folded across his chest. He looked tough. But as Amy studied him, she noticed the shiny wetness on his face. He'd been crying.

Everyone was shocked into silence, so he continued. "But this story isn't going to have a happy ending. Life sucks. It sucks for everyone, not just me. Not anymore." His tone transformed to a disgusted regret. Amy felt Gillian's hand on her shoulder. A reminder, a wavering one, yes, but still a reminder.

Amy stepped closer to her uncle, where her aunt couldn't reach her. "I've never seen this side of you before. You're like this shady evil that pushes away any good with even more darkness. Why?"

Alec met her gaze, his brown eyes still unable to see through the façade. Everyone else in this room could – Dr. Lightman, Aunt Gillian, and Emily. And Amy could see through theirs. But Alec…. He was different. Very different.

It didn't seem like she was going to get an answer. She shook her head. "Just as I thought," she whispered, turned, and walked to Emily's side.

"Just as you thought!" Alec exploded. "What's that supposed to mean?! That I'm just an idiot who can't even keep a hold on his niece!"

"That's the thing," Dr. Lightman broke in. "You never had a hold on her. You don't even know her talent." His eyes were disbelieving. Amy spent more time around him than her own uncle. And her own uncle didn't even see who she was. Unconsciously, she had started seeing Dr. Lightman as family. Cal. She started to see Cal as family.

Alec's eyes narrowed dangerously. "Don't talk to me about my own family, Lightman. I've seen yours fall apart as well."

That struck a nerve. Gillian and Emily, who Amy had forgotten were there, had to quickly put themselves in front of Cal to stop him from attacking Alec. Amy gently took Alec's and Gillian's hands to show her neutrality. "Calm down! All of us need to take a breath and chill out. All of this negative energy is going to either summon evil spirits," –she paused dramatically- "or make us break out. _Calm. Down._"

Emily stepped away from Cal and nodded. "She's right. Mostly about the breaking out part," she said, as Amy giggled softly despite the anger that still lurked in the room. "There's no easy way to talk this out. Its always going to be awkward… but Amy and I once had a long talk once about what we could say if this ever happened." Her doe eyes looked to each person in the room, only getting a glance away from Alec.

"Yeah. It was on my first day in DC. After I met you, Dr. Lightman, and confused Ria. Who still can't believe I can lie without it being spotted," Amy added, finally getting this secret out in the open. It was hers to share, and even managed to keep Gillian's own.

"What?"

Gillian sighed and hugged Amy to her. "She's one of us. She's actually more than one of us, since she can beat the polygraph test and Cal while saying the absolute lie."

Alec looked even murderous than before. "Lightman. You sabotaged my niece!" he growled. Cal was still behind Emily, who braced herself to keep her father back.

"No, _he _didn't. I did." Gillian said, to a stunned silence on Alec's part. Everyone else in the room wasn't surprised at all.

"Gill."

"I wanted to see how well I knew the science. And it turns out, I do."

"Gillian."

Cal pulled her, Emily, and Amy back from Alec. It was probably because Alec looked like he was about to explode. His face was actually going red. Amy whispered something to Cal and Emily, since she couldn't reach Gillian from where she stood.

"Gill, if you want to waste your whole life with the freak and his daughter then go ahead. Waste away. But I don't see the point of dragging Amy into this."

Amy shook her head. "But she's not dragging me into it. I volunteered. This is something I've wanted to learn since my mom told me what Aunt Gillian did for a living. I was ten when I told her that I wanted to learn it, and I don't regret that. No one here, besides you, regrets that." She closed her eyes. "You're the only person in this room who never saw past the mask I put on to fool the world."

Alec seemed visually calmer at Amy's soft, harmonious voice, but then flared back up again at her words.

Lightman and Emily got up and left silently. They didn't really have a place here among family matters. Amy walked to Gillian and rested her head on her shoulder.

"I'm assuming that we're over," Alec said when the door closed behind the Lightmans. "Because you don't want me anymore. You want _him_, have wanted _him_, and will want _him_ forever. You guys are like soul mates, in those sappy romance novels you read.

"You don't still don't get it, do you? This was never about Cal. This was never about you, or Amy, or Emily. It was me, myself, and I. You constantly nagged me about him, constantly nagged me about work. I love it here at the Lightman Group, because I have friends, true to the core, to back me up wherever we go. What about that night, when I was attacked by the copy-cat? Where were you? The only people who came to see me in the hospital were Amy, my sister, and Cal."

"I told you, I was working that night!"

Amy broke in with a simple, whispered, "Liar."

He turned incredulous eyes on her then sighed. "Fine. You're right. I wasn't working."

"And you were right," Gillian said somberly. "We are over."

Alec just shook his head, as if pitying her for his stupid judgment. "Okay. When those divorce papers are signed and we are done with each other, I will be back in a year to see you. See how hard you've fallen on the ground without me."

With that final promising threat, he left the office, the building, the city. Drove into Maryland and just kept going. He knew people in northern Maryland, friends who would let him stay a couple nights.

Gillian watched him drive away from the window before turning back to Amy. She stumbled a few steps, sat down on the couch, and just started crying again. Amy sat down next to her, hugging the best aunt in the world.

A tiny tap on the glass door announced Cal's reappearance. He took one look at Gillian before he was at her side, stroking her short, soft hair comfortingly.

Gillian looked up into Cal's eyes and immediately relaxed. She threw her arms around him and kissed him in the most sudden, unprofessional, random way. He was startled for a moment at her abruptness, before he snaked his arms around her and kissed her back. Amy glanced away from them to the door, where Emily was standing with a grin on her face. Amy gave her a thumbs-up in return. Her aunt's heart couldn't have been broken. Not when Alec had been abusing her for so long and Cal could have her when Alec was out of her life.

Cal pulled away first, although it was regretfully. "Gill, I've got to tell you something."

Gillian smiled and kissed him again for a second. Then she whispered, "I know, I love you too."

* * *

**Well? EEEEEP worthy? I think it is. See why there kinda HAS to be an epilogue. Or a sequel... O.o REVIEW!!!! i love seeing emails from FanFiction in my inbox. It puts me in a good mood, and good mood equals muse!!! so review if you wanna see Cal and Gill make out again XD**


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